Nichelle Nichols, who played Lt Uhura in original Star Trek, dies aged 89

US actor Nichelle Nichols, who achieved worldwide fame and broke ground for Black women while playing Lt Uhura in the original Star Trek TV hit in the 1960s, has died at 89, her family announced on Sunday.

Cast as Nyota Uhura, her character was in a position of authority and had a high profile on screen, on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise space vehicle.

Nichols was born in Robbins, Illinois, in 1932 and grew up in Chicago.

Prominent Georgia Democrat and voting rights organizer Stacey Abrams, who is running again for the state governorship and is a longtime massive Star Trek fan, tweeted a picture of herself with Nichols.

It also brought her accolades for breaking stereotypes that had limited Black women to acting roles as servants and included an interracial onscreen kiss with co-star William Shatner that was unheard of at the time.

Like other original cast members, Nichols also appeared in six big-screen spinoffs starting in 1979 with Star Trek: The Motion Picture and frequented Star Trek fan conventions.

She also served for many years as a recruiter for the US space agency Nasa, helping bring more minorities and women into the astronaut corps.

She often recalled how civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr was a fan of the show and praised her role.